Explore a thoroughly re-invented genre as you battle your way through unique, retro stages.

Search for hidden Power Up items and upgrade your arsenal of weapons to retrofit your ship.

Hop into the local co-op mode to unleash massive mayhem on hordes of unsuspecting enemies.

Colourful carnage

The acclaimed developer, Q-Games, is back and better than ever with PixelJunk SideScroller, the PlayStation 3 shooter that turns the classic and addictive arcade-based genre on its head. Inspired by the unlockable stage found in PixelJunk Shooter 2 on PlayStation 3, PixelJunk SideScroller drops you into the cockpit of a ship as you blast and manoeuvre your way through a world filled with hazardous gases, magma, acid and ice.

In it, you'll not only have to battle through numerous eye-popping environments, which grow tougher the further you progress into the game, but also have to dodge and destroy villainous alien aircraft as they try to take you down.

Thankfully, you'll have plenty of help at hand in the form of upgrades to your spaceship's arsenal and tons of hidden Power-Up items that can be found scattered throughout each of the levels. Be sure to take the time to look out for them - they could save your life later in the mission. Weapons on board your ship include a machine gun, bombs and even a laser that you'll have to use tactically if you're to make it to the game's fiendishly difficult finale.

However, the real trick to perfecting PixelJunk SideScroller is keeping your score combo up by chaining together as many enemy kills as possible. The more foes you take down, the higher your combo meter stays, which reflects your end of mission score. Good luck, pilot!

SideScroll together

PixelJunk SideScroller can be played alongside a friend in local co-op mode provided you have another wireless controller. If you do, the both of you can get to work unleashing massive amounts of mayhem on the hordes of unsuspecting enemies. However, there is a catch and it makes local co-op mode in PixelJunk SideScroller all the harder when playing with a friend - you have just three lives between the two of you.

That means you're going to have to use all your gaming skills to make it through each mission without using up all your lives. Should you lose a life, you'll have to wait until your partner has made it to the end of the mission before joining in again, so make sure you watch each other's back out there in the perilous alien world that awaits you.